Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the automated inspection or review of defects on manufactured substrates.
Description of the Background Art
A conventional scanning electron microscope (SEM) apparatus for automated inspection may be used to inspect a large number of scattered “hot spot” areas on a semiconductor wafer or other manufactured substrate. Hot spot areas are particular areas which are known or suspected to have a relatively high likelihood of one or more defects. Coordinates for the hot spot areas may be obtained either from design data or from an earlier inspection of the substrate.
Because hot spot areas may be scattered around at various positions on a manufactured substrate, the automated inspection of a large number of hot spot areas takes a substantial amount of time. This adversely impacts the throughput of the inspection apparatus.
It is highly desirable to increase the speed of inspecting a large number of hot spots on a manufactured substrate.